12 August 2008

This past weekend, I took an afternoon field trip to the D with Lisa and Brian to scope out Eastern Market. None of us had been, so we were brimming with excitement by the time we finally parked, studied our map, and hit the sidewalk. At first we were a little overwhelmed but felt right at home as soon as we saw the wares available at The Pottery Guy's store. This set the mood for a day of immature shopping. I would expect nothing less. :)

We walked around through the few decks, scoping out what was available, what looked good, and what was cheap. And guess what was cheap? Everything!! Gigantic bundle of basil? A dollar. Cute little bouquet of lemon thyme? A dollar. Bag of apricots (my new favorite, btw)? Maybe two dollars. Six ears of corn? $1.50.

Let me tell you a little story about that corn, though...

Luckily I'm not as squeamish as I used to be. When I husked the corn later that night, I thought, hmm, weird. Wonder what that black hole is from? Husk husk husk.... EEEEEEEEEEEEEEK! It's a WORM!!!! I nearly pissed myself and probably jumped five feet in the air. I had almost baked the corn in the husk. OMG. One of us was this close to eating baked worm. EW.

Anyway...

Sara and I discovered black eyed peas in Decatur at Watershed but weren't sure if we'd be able to find them up north. Guess what? I found 'em! For $2. Score.

Random find of the day -- Mountain Dew jelly!!! How could I not buy it?

And who knew little peppers grew on trees? Too cute.

I was also excited to visit my first real meat market (other than Necto, of course. he he he). Unfortunately, none of us felt comfortable buying meat, walking around with it, then spending an hour+ in the car with it, so we didn't indulge. But, despite my skeevy meat feelings, I loved walking through and checking out all the crazy stuff available. Like pig brains!!! (Unfortunately, no pig brains were on display. Sigh.)

That's my okra. Swoon. Also discovered this at Watershed with Sara, so when I saw it, I snatched it up. I made it for dinner that night with some chopped tomatoes and oil. Delish. Also thanks to the basil guy for the handy basil tip -- apparantly, you can freeze basil. Score.

It was an awesome day. I had a great time with Lisa and Brian, and I always love a little produce shopping. That being said... will I go back? Perhaps. It was cheaper, yes, but factoring in the gas and drive time and hassle, locavloralywise (ha! yes, I made that up), it kind of defeats the purpose. On my own? I think I'll stick to my local market. But if Lisa and Brian are headed back down, I'm totally in.

Mini-sidenote: Sara and Matt have been in town, and I've seen Sara THREE times. I might even get to see her again. Very very exciting. Smoosh. :) And Heidi and George have very much enjoyed playing with their BFF Kaia, who is so big now! Love you all!

2 comments:

Dude.....humungus balls? I'm sooooooo jealous. Sounds like a you had a great time! I still love A^2 market too, but let me know if you schedule another trip to D town. P.S. You just discovered apricots? Where have you been? Now I shall introduce you to apricots crossed with plums, or the apriplum. :-)